Loading mechanism for yarn conditioner



Aug. 15, 1961 w. BROWN 2,996,200

LOADING MECHANISM FOR YARN CONDITIONER Filed. Oct. 13, 1958 2Sheets-Sheet 1 AWAW INVENTOR.

WALTER BROWN Aug. 15, 1961 w. BROWN LOADING MECHANISM FOR YARNCONDITIONER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed 00tlIJ, 1958 4 72 INVENTOR. 52ByVALTER BROWN Q ,iwg

United States Patent 7 2,996,200 7 LOADING MECHANISM FOR YARNCONDITIONER Walter Brown, Columbus, Ohio, assignor to Paramount TextileMachinery Co., Kaukakee, 111., a corporation of Illinois Filed Oct. 13,1958, Ser. No. 766,879 2 Claims. (Cl. 214-18) This invention relates toan improvement in yarn conditioners and particularly to an elevator toaid in loading cones of yarn into the yarn conditioner.

The elevator of the present invention is particularly useful inconnection with a yarn conditioner of the type having an enclosedcabinet providing a treating chamber, the cabinet having an opening ordoorway in one wall closed by a hinged door. The conditioning operationconsists of subjecting cones of yarn to steam under pressure and at hightemperatures to obtain a uniform distribution of moisture contentthroughout the cones of yarn and thereafter to subject the yarn to avacuum to reduce the moisture content to the desired level. In order. toobtain the necessary and desirable hermetic sealing of the door withrespect to the cabinet and particularly the associated front wall aroundthe doorway, it is necessary that the lower edge of the doorway beraised above the adjacent floor and further that the floor of theconditioner on the inside of the cabinet be likewise raised above theadjacent support or factory floor.

In order to give ready access of thesteam and the vacuum condition tothe yarn on the cones, it is customary to stackthe cones on handtruck-provided with shelves to receive the cones and with rollers orwheels to facilitate movement of the truck along a support surface. Thefully loaded hand truck weighs approximately 200 pounds and,accordingly, ismoved only with difficulty and by the exertion ofsubstantial effort. Heretofore, an inclined ramp has been providedextending from the factory floor upwardly to thelower edge of thedoorway whereby to permit the loaded truck to be pushed therealongupwardly onto the floor of the treating cabinet. Such movement of theloaded truck has required considerable strength and effort on the partof the operator and, furthermore, the inclined ramp has" occupied asubstantial amount of factory'floor space.

Accordingly, it is an important object of the present invention toprovide a yarn conditioner equipped with an operator of a substantialportion of the physical burden of loading a truck of yarn cones into thetreating cabinet. Still anotherobject of the invention is to provide anelevator for yarn conditioners of the type set forth which is safe inoperation and is constructed so as to preventinadvertent falling thereofwhile supporting a loaded truck in case of failure of power for theelevator.

Further features of the invention pertain to the particular arrangementof the elements of the elevator where by the above-outlined advantagesand additional op-' erating features thereof are attained.

The invention, both as to its organization and method of operation,together with further objects and advantages thereof, will best beunderstood by reference to the following specification taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational and diagrammatical view showing theapparatus and method utilized heretofore for moving a loaded yarn conecarrying truck into the treating cabinet of a yarn conditioner;

FIG. 2 is a view similar to FIG. 1 and showing in association with theyarn conditioner an elevator embodying the present invention and made inaccordance therewith;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged plan view with certain portions broken away of theelevator of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a side elevational view with certain portions broken away ofthe elevator of FIG 3; and

FIG. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary view in vertical section through theelevator substantially as seen along the line 5-5 of FIG. 3.

There is shown in FIG. 1 of the drawings a yarn con ditioner generallydesignated by the numeral 10 of the type with which the elevator of thepresent invention is particularly useful, the apparatus and method ofloading yarn cones therein used heretofore being illustrated inconjunction therewith. The yarnconditioner 10 includes a pair of sidewalls 12, a rear wall 14, top and bottom walls 16 and 18 and a frontwall 20-. The front Wall 20 is provided with an opening or doorwaytherein which can be closed and hermetically sealed by means of a door22 hingedly mounted on the front wall 20 as at 24 and'having a lockingmechanism 26. The walls 12, 14, 16, '18 and 20 form an airtight treatingchamber when the door 22 is locked and sealed. The treating cycle mayconsist of injecting steam under pressure and at a high temperature intothe cabinet defined by the walls whereby to surround cones disposed inthe treating cabinet with a high humidity atmosphere under pressurewhich tends to distribute moisture through the yarn of the cones in auniform manner. After impregnating the cones of yarn with moisture, thesteam pressure is removed and a vacuum is applied to the treatingchamber thereby to reduce the moisture content of the yarn to apredetermine value.

If proper operation of the yarn conditioner 10 is to be achieved, thedoor 22 must firmly and completely seal the doorway in the front wall 20and to this end the doorway is spaced upwardly from the bottom of thefront wall 20 and from the supporting factory floor 28 so as toaccommodate a suitable seal between the lower edge of the doorway on thefront wall 20 and the lower edge of the door 22.

The yarn cones to be treated are customarily placed on a hand truck 30provided with a plurality of shelves 32 to support a number of cones ofyarn 34in a suitable stacked and spaced-apart relationship to permitready access of the steam thereto and ready removal of excess moisturetherefore during the vacuum portion of the treating cycle.- A set ofwheels or rollers 36 is provided in the bottomof the truck 30 so that anoperator can conveniently move the truck from one machine to anotheralong the factory floor 28. The fully loaded hand truck with the yarncones thereon may weight 200 pounds or more and, accordingly, it is notpossible manually to lift the truck 30- over the ledge at the bottom ofthe doorway onto the inner floor 38 of the yarn conditioner 10,particularly in view of the fact that the upper edge of the ledge andthe floor 28 factory 2 whereby the loaded hand truck 30 can be pushed upthe inclined ramp 40 and onto the floor 28 of the yarn conditioner. Inorder to reduce the strength and the effort needed to move the loadedtruck along the ramp 48, the ramp 40 is normally rather long and may beas much as twice as long as the yarn conditioner is deep whereby tooccupy a substantial amount of space on the factory floor 28.

In accordance with the present invention, the yarn conditioner 10 isprovided with an elevator generally designated by the numeral 50adjacent to the front wall 20 thereof whereby the elevator 50 isutilized to lift the loaded hand truck 30 to a position such that it canbe rolled along a horizontal path onto the floor 38 of the yarnconditioner. The details of construction of the elevator 50 can be bestseen from FIGS. 3 through of the drawings wherein it will be seen thatthe elevator comprises generally a base 52, a platform 54 connected tothe base 52 for movement upwardly therefrom, and an actuating mechanismin the form of a hydraulic motor 56 of the expansion-contraction type.

Referring to FIG. 3 of the drawings, it will be seen that the base 52 isgenerally rectangular in form and has a laterally directed extension 54.The base 52 is mounted directly upon the factory floor 28 and has oneend thereof adjacent to the front wall 20 of the conditioner and extendsoutwardly and forwardly therefrom and in general alignment with thedoorway 58 in the front wall 20 and below the ledge 60 on the front wall20.

Mounted upon the base 52 is a first pair of bearings 62, the bearings 62supporting a main drive shaft 64 which extends parallel to the frontwall 20 and is spaced outwardly therefrom and below the ledge 60. Thereis fixedly secured to the shaft 64 between the bearings 62 a pair ofsprockets 66 which engage and drive a pair of chains 68. Each of thechains 68 also engages a sprocket 70 mounted upon an idler shaft 72mounted adjacent to the other or outer end of the base 52. Morespecifically, the shaft 72 is supported at each end thereof by a bearing74 mounted on a slide 76 which is shiftable toward and away from thefront wall 20 of the yarn conditioner. The slide 76 carries anupstanding arm 78 which abuts against an adjusting screw 80 threadedlyreceived in an upstanding ear 82 on the base 52. By turning the screw 80with respect to the ear 82 any desired adjusted position of the bearing74 can be obtained and that position retained by tightening a lock nut84 on the screw 80. The movable bearing 74 provides for shifting of theshaft 72 toward and away from the drive shaft 64 whereby to' tighten orloosen the drive chains 68 as required.

The platform 54 is connected to the shaft 64 by a pair of levers 86 andto the idler shaft 72 by means of a second pair of levers 88. One end ofeach of the levers 86 receives the drive shaft 64 therethrough, thelevers 86 being positioned outwardly from the bearings 62 and fixedlysecured to the shaft 64. The other end of each of the levers 86 ispivotally connected to the platform 54 by means of trunnions 90 fixedlymounted on the underneath side of the platform 54. The other set oflevers 88 is also fixedly connected to the associated shaft 72 and is,accordingly, movable therewith upon movement of the adjusting screw 80.The other end of each of the levers 88 is connected to a trunnion 92which is slidably mounted upon the underneath side of the platform 54adjacent to the outer end thereof. The sliding connection between thetrunnion 92 and the platform 54 therefore accommodates the shifting ofthe idler shaft 72 and the attached levers 88 during the tightening ofthe chains 68.

The platform 54 is generally rectangular in shape and is disposed overthe base 52 and overlies the side edges thereof. The central portion ofthe platform 54 is raised to provide a top 94 overlying the shafts 64and 72 and the associated actuating mechanism and the top 94 issupported in that raised position by a pair of downwardly extendingU-shaped tracks 96 which are formed integral with the lateral side edgesof the top 94. Each of the tracks 96 includes a bottom wall 98 which mayrest on the factory floor 28 when the platform 54 is in the loweredposition. A first side wall 100 extends upwardly from the bottom wall 98and is formed integral with a downwardly inclined edge 102 on the top94. A second side wall 104 is connected to the bottom wall along theouter edge thereof to engage and to retain the wheels 36 within thetrack 96.

As may be best seen in FIG. 3 of the drawings, the tracks 96 extend in adirection perpendicular to the front wall 20 and are disposed inwardlyfrom the side edges of the doorway 58 whereby when the platform 54 israised to the upper position, a hand truck can be readily moved alongthe tracks 96 onto the floor 38 of the conditioner 10 or outwardlytherefrom. In order to assist in guiding a loaded hand truck onto andoff of the tracks 96, the outer ends of the tracks, i.e., the endsdisposed away from the yarn conditioner, are provided with widened trackportions 106 which also are inclined or bevelled downwardly as at 108 toa point such that only a small thickness of material is disposed abovethe factory floor 28. In addition the tracks 96 are provided with a pairof upstanding positioning and stop members 110, a pair of the members110 being disposed adjacent to the widened track portions 106 and theother pair of stop members being disposed toward the yarn conditioner10. The stop members 110 are adapted to provide ready reference pointsfor positioning and holding the hand truck in a lateral position duringthe lifting and the lowering of the platform 54 whereby to preventinadvertent rolling movement of the hand truck therealong and therefrom.

In order to raise the platform 54 from the lower or receiving positionas illustrated by solid lines in FIG. 4 to the upper positionillustrated by dashed lines therein, it is necessary to turn the shaft64. To this end the hydraulic motor 56 has been provided, the motor 56being of the expansion-contraction type and preferably being powered byair under pressure. The motor 56 includes the usual cylinder 112 havinga shiftable piston thereon carrying a piston rod 114 extending from theforward end of the cylinder 112. The rear end of the cylinder 112carries a rod 116 which is pivotally mounted by means of a bracket 1-18fixedly secured to the factory floor 28. Air for actuating the motor 56is admitted to the cylinder 112 and is withdrawn therefrom through thelines 120 and 122 communicating with the rearward and forward ends ofthe cylinder, respectively.

The forward end of the piston rod 114 is connected to a yoke 124 whichis pivotally connected to the upper end of an actuating lever 126. Thelower end of the actuating lever 126 is fixedly connected to a stubshaft 128 which is in turn rotatably supported by a bearing 130 mountedupon the outer end of the base extension 54 (see FIG. 3 particularly).The inner end of the stub shaft 128 is connected to the driving shaft 64by means of pair of universal joints 130 interconnected by a short shaft132. By this connection the motor 56 can be utilized to turn the shaft64 whereby to raise and lower the platform 54.

The operation of the motor 56 to raise and lower the platform 54 willnow be described in detail. Assuming that the platform 54 is in thelower position as illustrated .by solid lines in FIG. 4, a truck 30 canbe readily loaded thereon up the inclined track portions 106 and ontothe main tracks 96. The slightly raised stops 110 will serve properly toposition the truck 30 along the tracks 96 and will also preventinadvertent rolling of the truck 30 along the tracks during the raisingand the lowering of the platform 54. A remote control such as thecontrol 134 diagrammatically illustrated in FIG. 2 may be provided tocontrol the flow of air to the cylinder 112 from any desired convenientlocation. With the truck 30 in position on the platform 54, air isadmitted through the line 122 whereby to cause the motor 56 to contractand to pivot the lever 128 toward the conditioner 10 and in acounterclockwise direction as viewed in FIGS. 2 and 4.

Such movement of the lever 126 will also turn the shaft 64 inacounterclockwise direction and through the chains 68 likewise turn theidler shaft 72 in a counterclockwise direction. Both sets of levers '86and 88 will move upwardly and in a counterclockwise direction as viewedin FIGS. 2 and 4 toward the front wall '20" o'f-the yarn conditioner.The levers 86 and 88 willrcarry withthemthe platform 54 whereby to raisethe platform 54 and .the truck thereon upwardly and above the upper edgeof the ledge 60 in the cabinet wall 20, asmay be seen from the dashedline position of the levers 86 and 88 in FIG. 4. The upper ends of thelevers pass beyond dead center with respect to the associated shafts 86and 88 and finally assume a position inclined toward the yarnconditioner whereby to rest the end of the platform 54 disposed towardthe wall 20 upon the ledge 60. This insures that the platform 54 willremain in the raised position even though air pressure is lost in themotor 56.

The operator can now conveniently roll the truck 30 over the stops 110and onto the floor 38 of the yarn conditioner 10. Thereafter air isadmitted to the cylinder 112 through the line 120 whereby to move theplatform 54 away from the conditioner and again rest it upon the factoryfloor 2 8. The operator then closes the door 22 in the usual manner andsecurely looks it in preparation for the yarn conditioning cycle duringwhich the yarn is alternately subjected to steam and vacuum.

If it is desired to remove the truck 30 from the conditioner 10, thedoor 22 is opened and the platform 54 is moved to the raised positionresting upon the ledge 60 in the floor 38 by admitting air underpressure through the line 122. The truck 30 having the treated cones ofyarn thereon now can be conveniently rolled out of the yarn conditioner10 and onto the platform 54, the truck 30 being properly positioned andheld upon the platform 54 and along the tracks 96 by means of the stops110. The operator then admits air pressure through the line 120 into thecylinder 112 thereby to move the platform 54 upwardly and away from theconditioner and thereafter downwardly to rest upon the floor 28' as isillustrated by solid lines in FIG. 4. The truck 30 can now convenientlybe rolled from the tracks 96 over the stops 110 and down the inclinedtrack portions 106 onto the factory floor 28 for transport to the nextprocessing station.

From the above description it will be seen that the levers 86 and 88comprise a parallel linkage mechanism which is operative to raise andlower the platform 54 while holding the platform 54 in a substantiallyhorizontal position at all times during the raising and loweringthereof. The movement of the parallel linkage mechanism past the deadcenter point serves to rest the weight of the platform 54 and any loadthereon upon the ledge 60 and the conditioner floor 38 whereby toprovide the safety features described above in the event that airpressure is lost in the motor 56.

In view of the foregoing, it is apparent that there has been provided anelevator for a yarn conditioner of improved construction and arrangementthat is characterized by the ability to lift a loaded truck upwardlyfrom the factory floor to a level in alignment with the raised floor ofthe conditioner whereby the truck can be conveniently and safelytransferred from the main factory floor into the yarn conditioner with aminimum of effort.

While there has been described what is at present considered to be thepreferred embodiment of the invention, it will be understood thatvarious modifications may be made therein, and it is intended to coverin the appended claims all such modifications as fall within the truespirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. In combination with a yarn conditioner adapted to be mounted on asubstantially horizontal flat support surface and comprising a cabinetprovided with a door and a door opening in a front wall thereof andhaving a loweredge of said openingdisposed upwardly abovethe supportsurface, an inner floor vinsaid cabinet arranged ataheight substantiallyin alignment with the'lower edge of said door opening and adapted toreceive a truck thereon, .an elevator includingxa base mounted on andsupported'by'the support surface adjacent said front wall of saidcabinet, a pair of transverse parallel shafts rotatably mounted on'saidbase, a pair of levers fixed on each of said shafts, a platformpivotally connected to saidlevers an'd'ajdapted to 'he elevated thereby,said platform including a generally planar top overlying and coveringsaid base and said levers and said shafts, and including a pair oftracks on opposite edge portions of said top and disposed downwardlytherefrom, power means for simultaneously rotating said shafts to pivotsaid levers through an unobstructed angular path from a lowered terminalposition, wherein said levers extend from said shafts in a directionaway from said cabinet, through a top vertical dead-center position andto an over-center position wherein said levers extend diagonallyupwardly with respect to said support surface and toward said cabinet,said top' being disposed below the level at said door opening and saidtracks being in alignment with said opening and resting on said supportsurface when said levers are in said lowered terminal position, the endportions of said tracks adjacent said cabinet projecting through saiddoor opening and overlying and resting upon said inner floor of saidcabinet when said levers are in said over-center position, whereby saiddoor may be opened and a truck may be rolled from said support surfaceonto said tracks when said levers are in their said lowered terminalposition and said truck may be raised and then rolled from said tracksonto said inner floor when said levers have been moved from said loweredterminal position to said over-center position, the engagement of saidend portions of said tracks with said inner floor serving to supportsaid tracks and prevent collapse of said elevator in the event offailure of said power means, the movement of said levers through saidvertical dead-center position preventing inadvertent return of saidlevers from said over-center position to said lowered terminal position.

2. In combination with a yarn conditioner adapted to be mounted on asubstantially horizontal flat support surface and comprising a cabinetprovided with a door and a. door opening in a front 'wall thereof andhaving a lower edge of said opening disposed upwardly above the supportsurface, an inner floor in said cabinet arranged at a heightsubstantially in alignment with the lower edge of said door opening andadapted to receive a truck thereon, an elevator including a base mountedon and supported by the support surface adjacent said front wall of saidcabinet, a pair of transverse parallel shafts rotatably mounted on saidbase, a pair of levers fixed on each of said shafts, a platformpivotally connected to said levers and adapted to be elevated thereby,said platform including a generally planar top overlying and coveringsaid base and said levers and said shafts and including a pair of trackson opposite edge portions of said top and disposed downwardly therefrom,power means for simultaneously rotating said shafts to pivot said leversthrough an unobstructed angular path greater than degrees from a loweredterminal position, wherein said levers are substantially parallel tosaid support surface and extend from said shafts in a direction awayfrom said cabinet, through a top vertical dead-center position and to anover-center position wherein said levers extend diagonally upwardly withrespect to said support surface and toward said cabinet, said powermeans including drive chains drivingly interconnecting said shafts andhydraulic actuating mechanism connected to one of said shafts, said topbeing disposed below the level of said door opening and said tracksbeing in alignment with said opening and resting on said support surfacewhen said levers are in said lowered terminal position, the end portionsof said tracks adjacent said cabinet projecting through said dooropening and overlying and resting upon said inner floor of said cabinetwhen said levers are in said over-center position, whereby said door maybe opened and a truck may be rolled from said support surface onto saidtracks when said levers are in their said lowered terminal position andsaid truck may be raised and then rolled from said tracks onto saidinner floor when said levers have been moved from said lowered terminalposition to said over-center position, the engagement of said endportions of said tracks with said inner floor serving to support saidtracks and prevent collapse of said elevator in the event of failure ofsaid power means, the movement of said levers through said verticaldead-center position preventing inadvertent return of said levers fromsaid overcenter position to said lowered terminal position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS837,352 Snediker Dec. 4, 1906 1,942,945 Smith Jan. 9, 1934 2,059,703McBane Nov. 3, 1936 2,201,147 Bary et al May 21, 1940 2,620,932 AlpineDec. 9, 1952 2,672,246 Barnett et a1. Mar. 16, 1954

